Tips for parents during COVID-19 times.

07 Apr Tips for parents during COVID-19 times.

If you have been feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed in the last months, you are not alone!

The corona-virus epidemic all over the world has had a massive impact in our lives. But as long as we keep our self and family members engaged in doing purposeful activities days go way faster and easier. One of the challenges parents are facing recently is home schooling. One thing is for sure: Kids should never stop studying. As parents and caregivers it is our job to keep them positive, entertained and study oriented.

I am pretty sure that with this helpful advice, things will become easier.

1. Create a schedule for your morning – as you would usually have before self-isolation. Even better if you (Mom and dad ) can get up early for some self-care and focused time.When parents are  happy, everyone benefits!
2.  Create a schedule for your child – if your child’s teacher doesn’t provide a schedule or a task list, you can create one yourself, but if the teacher is setting the tasks then you can request the teacher to make a daily checklist of activities so the child can move towards independent learning. Include regular break times.
3. Healthy food – provide no/low-sugar snacks and stick to water. This is beneficial for behavior, as the blood sugar spikes can really affect their focus and willingness to concentrate.
4. Get them moving! – If possible, get the kids moving for 10 minutes before studying and definitely during recess and lunch breaks. Kids need to do gross motor activities (use their big muscles) so they can settle down to focus on learning activities.  If you don’t have access to the outdoors, you can try kids workouts online or fun games.
5. Use timers – set a reasonable amount of time for the child to finish their task. Self-motivated children may not need to do this, but kids who sometimes needs help to focus on a task and having a timer really motivates him to complete it.
6. Do what works for your family – if you are on a flexible schedule not dictated by the school (independent tasks) find what works for your family. Some may like to do a block of learning in the morning and be finished for the day, or some may like to break it up into morning and afternoon.
7. Limit screen time outside of learning tasks -Unfortunately we see increased grumpiness with increased screen time. Can an activity be printed instead of done online? If you are struggling with poor behaviour due to higher amounts of screen time, talk to your child’s teacher. Teachers are very receptive to this feedback and can make modifications.
8. Don’t take responsibility for task completion on yourself – the responsibility lies with your child. Trust your child’s teacher to follow up and manage your child’s learning, and keep in communication with them to see how you can support the teacher.
9. Remember that your needs are just as important, if not more, than your children’s – especially if you are working off campus as well and you have a responsibility to your employer. If you are working from home, then you may need to make modifications to your work schedule the first week or two. Focus on setting your kids up to work independently of you which will require a lot of your attention for the first week – it’s easy to get frustrated and resentful when you are trying to work as well and the children are constantly interrupting or needing support. The second week will get easier, and then you should be able to schedule in blocks of work time for yourself.
10. If your child can’t complete all the tasks, give yourself some grace – they will catch up. I am absolutely sure that all teachers are just extending knowledge and will review it the sooner school starts.

As a proof that online or off campus studying works and its cute, enjoy some videos from our awesome kids on our YouTube channel AEL ALBANIA